The present invention relates generally to a locking collar, and more particularly, to collars used to hold weights on the ends of barbells or dumbbells.
There are various types of barbell or dumbbell collars (hereinafter referred to collectively as "barbells") available to weight lifters. Collars are necessary because barbells used in weight lifting usually come with weights of varying sizes that must be secured on the ends of the barbell. The weights can be utilized in various combinations on the barbell, allowing the user to select a desired total weight. Typically, the weights are disk-shaped with holes in their centers so that the weights can be fitted onto the ends of the barbell. The weights are secured on the ends of the barbell between dual stops which sometime take the form of a fixed inner collar and an outer collar. Although both collars may be adjustable as to their position on the barbell, for purposes of simplicity the following discussion will refer to the outer collar as removable and the inner collar as fixed. While the majority of inner collars on the market are now fixed stops, it will be recognized that the present invention may also be used as the inner collar.
Obviously, it is desirable for the collar to secure the weights effectively so that weights cannot fall off the end of the barbell and cause injury to a weight lifter or a bystander. It is particularly hazardous for a weight to become dislodged during lifting because the barbell becomes imbalanced and often uncontrollable.
Safety can also be a problem when weights are added or removed from a barbell because at that time the barbell will be imbalanced if the weights are not removed from each side of the barbell simultaneously. Most prior art collars are placed on the barbell by sliding them on and off the end of the barbell, in the same manner that weights slide on and off the ends of the barbell. Thus, most collars currently on the market must be removed from the barbell to effect a weight change. When, as is often the case, central portions of the barbell are supported on a rack while weights are added or removed from the ends of the barbell, the barbell can become sufficiently imbalanced to topple the rack or tilt the barbell. In these situations, the weights will often spill off the end of the barbell in the absence of a collar on the barbell to hold the weights thereon. When this is the case, a properly secured collar may limit or prevent injuries or property damage.
The correlation between safety and convenience in prior art collars may explain why some prior art collars are predisposed to create the very problems that they are designed to avoid. Since some prior art collars are not easily removed from or placed onto a barbell, many weight lifters ultimately choose not to use them. An example of one such collar is the conventional set screw type. The set screw type collar typically consists of a collar with a hollow grooved cylindrical opening whereupon a locking screw is manually rotated into the opening until locking contact is made with the barbell. There are varying types of set screw collars on the market, each requiring the user to expend the effort of rotating the locking screw each time a weight change is desired.
In some instances, a weight lifter exercising alone will initially use a collar only to discover that it is cumbersome and time consuming to remove the collars from each end of the barbell every time a weight change is desired. To avoid this result, the weight lifter will cease to place the collar onto the barbell. In other instances, a number of weight lifters using the same set of weights in a gymnasium will pass the weights back and forth among themselves as they complete exercises. Again, one or more of the weight lifters will often elect to dispense with inconvenient collars rather than to break his own momentum or the momentum of the other weight lifters. Unfortunately, dangerous practices of this sort are commonplace.
Additionally, an unstable collar may also negatively effect a weight lifter's execution, as well as causing safety problems. For example, a fundamental requirement of bench pressing exercises is that the weight lifter have sufficient concentration and experience to lift the barbell evenly. For some novice weight lifters this a very difficult process even when weights are secured properly on a barbell. A shifting collar may complicate the process, causing the weights to shift thereby creating a situation where it is impossible to balance the weights properly. Also, a shifting collar, resulting in shifting weights, may create a situation where too much or too little force is exerted by the weight lifter on either end of the barbell. This may cause severe imbalance and possible injury to the weight lifter. Worsening this scenario is the fact that the weight lifter is more likely to lift the weights unevenly toward the end of a set when the weight lifter's muscles are tired and depleted of oxygen. Thus, the weight lifter is less able to respond at the critical moment when a shifting collar creates even more imbalance.
An important consideration, then, in the selection of a collar is that the collar can be easily mounted on or off the barbell and, at the same time, securely hold weights on the barbell. In general, prior art collars that are secure and have desirable safety characteristics are not convenient to use in that they are not easily and quickly removable.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide an improved device for retaining weights on barbells which, when compared with conventional retaining devices, is more convenient to use.
It is a further object to provide an improved locking collar which is easily removed and replaced.